[1]Raleigh’s News & Observer features an on-the-money essay[2] this morning by Fayetteville Observer editorial page editor Tim White on the departure of state DHHS spokesperson Ricky Diaz (pictured at left in a photo from a DHHS newsletter). The central message: Let’s hope Pat McCrory and his team learned something from Diaz’ short but tumultuous stay. Here’s White:

“McCrory has repeatedly insisted Diaz was worth every penny, that he’s one of the smartest, most capable people the governor has ever come across and that he was completely qualified for the job.

The kindest spin is that the governor is remarkably naive. A young man at 24, no matter how brilliant, still doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He still hasn’t had the experience to understand all the consequences of his own decisions, let alone those of the people running the state’s largest bureaucracy. When I was 24, I was learning the fundamentals of my business. I was two years out of college; five years out of being a teenager. I wasn’t any more ready for a top leadership position than Diaz was….

His boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos (who is old enough to know what she doesn’t know but took a job in which she had little experience anyway), said, ‘His work will leave a lasting impression on the department.’ She must be a student of irony.Diaz is off to a new job in Washington, working for a company that does communications strategy work for Republican candidates. ‘It was an opportunity that presented itself and one that I can’t pass up,’ he said.

That leaves an opportunity that McCrory and Wos shouldn’t pass up: Replace Diaz with someone who has lived long enough, and worked in the business long enough, to be qualified for the job.